Introduction:
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has recently launched in the global market shortly after its Chinese debut. It is no doubt the most exciting Huawei flagship I have ever used. The box comes in a textured outside cover, and the actual box is very classy. Inside of it, you’ll find the device itself, a premium-designed hard shell case, a 6-amp charging cable, and a 100W supercharging brick. The Pura 70 Ultra is already up for pre-order, and you can get your hands on one as early as the 1st of June, right here in South Africa as well as other countries. It starts at 35,000 Rand here in SA or €1,500 across Europe. That is indeed a rather steep price, but if you pre-order one, there are plenty of discounts and gifts to go around. It also comes with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, so that price is roughly on par with other extreme flagship smartphones.
Camera & all Features:
It’s always hard to justify a phone for that amount of money, but if camera quality is your main concern, then you’ll certainly be getting your money’s worth with the very camera-centric Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. The new Pura series is a direct successor to Huawei’s last-gen P series devices, which have always focused on photography. This is still very much the case when you take a look at that very unusual and classy camera mount, which is in the shape of a sideways arrow. This is the Pura series symbol for moving forward. I like the new outlook. That symbol sits on a gold-finished plate with Huawei’s X Mage branding.
But the thing that stands out the most is, no doubt, that ginormous main camera lens. The main reason for its size is due to it being a physical moving part. Yes, that’s right, the main sensor is an industry-first retractable camera which can withstand up to 300,000 cycles. The sole purpose of this is to keep the device as slim as possible while incorporating a 1-inch type sensor, which so many brands are leaning towards these days. There are plenty of devices that offer 1-inch main cameras, but very few are paired alongside a physical variable aperture, which is thankfully included in Huawei’s latest top-end flagship. Just as we saw in its predecessor, the main camera can adjust from an impressive f/1.6 aperture all the way up to f/4.0, and there are a total of nine aperture stops if you dive into the camera’s Pro mode.
The sensor itself is a 23 mm, 50-megapixel Ultra Lighting main camera, which makes use of sensor-shift optical image stabilization. Next up, we have the 199 mm, 50-megapixel Ultra Lighting Periscope sensor with a 3.5x optical zoom range, a 5 cm minimum focusing distance, OIS, and a very wide f/2.1 aperture. Lastly, we have a 13 mm, 40-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, which makes use of an f/2.2 aperture and autofocus. All three sensors are treated to different X Mage Styles, namely Original, Vivid, and Bright. But since Original produces the most color-accurate images, that’s what we’ll be sticking to.
There is certainly a noticeable difference when using different physical aperture stops with the main camera. The narrowest opening on the right has a large depth of field with more in focus, while the widest opening on the left has a shallow depth of field with more emphasis on the subject. But if you want even more background blur, there is, of course, portrait mode, which looks fantastic when using the main at 1x but not so much when cropped in at 2x zoom. However, when the Periscope kicked in at 3.5x optical zoom, I was seriously impressed. The Periscope camera also has a very pleasing macro mode with a minimum focusing distance of just 5 cm. Snaps come out incredible, and when in super macro mode, the zoom range goes all the way up to 35x. You can also use the ultra-wide camera in super macro mode, and results are just as pleasing.
There’s a snapshot mode too, which tries to keep moving objects in full focus, but this is only done perfectly when using the main camera thanks to Huawei’s new XD motion engine. The ultra-wide camera takes great photos, but there is a rather strange output resolution coming out of its 40-megapixel sensor, and only the main camera can shoot at its native megapixel count, which, in all honesty, looks too saturated when compared to the binned-down photo of the same scene. Either way, that main sensor takes some very good pics. The Periscope sensor produces extremely detailed and well-balanced shots at 3.5x optical zoom and even 5x or 10x hybrid zoom levels. Digital zoom goes all the way up to 100x, and I’m happy to say that Huawei has certainly improved detail at such high focal lengths.
We still have 1080p, 960 FPS slow-motion video, which still looks fairly decent, but this time we can now shoot continuous 4K, 60 FPS video, which lets you switch from the ultra-wide to the main to the Periscope all the way up to 10x zoom in a single video. This was limited to 30 FPS on the P60 Pro. There is, unfortunately, no option for 8K video, but all three sensors can record very detailed video at 4K, 60 FPS. Ultra-wide video is rather stabilized even though it lacks OIS, and while the Periscope is more stable than I was expecting, the main camera is very stabilized thanks to sensor-shift OIS, which is actually a first for a 1-inch type sensor. Recording video of a human subject comes out looking the best when using the main camera at 1x or the Periscope at 3.5x zoom, which offers impeccable natural depth of field. You can also use aperture video mode to physically adjust the aperture of the main camera, and just like when taking photos, this drastically changes how a scene looks when set to a wider aperture stop. Unfortunately, this mode caps out at 1080p resolution. When doing the same thing at night, the widest aperture stop on the left tends to brighten up video the most and control light noise the best, but this unfortunately comes at the cost of lens flare. Lens flare is still apparent when using the main camera to record 4K video of a human subject, which leaves me favoring the Periscope sensor. The ultra-wide and Periscope cameras aren’t really affected by lens flare at night, but the main camera still controls light noise the best and takes the brightest, most detailed, and most stabilized video.
When taking photos at night, the ultra-wide doesn’t control light noise the best but still takes a decent snap. While the main camera takes an incredible picture when not zoomed in, at 2x, the main camera handles light noise slightly better, but photo detail is seriously lacking. The Periscope takes an insanely good photo at 3.5x optical zoom, but quality takes a noticeable dip at 5x and 10x zoom levels, and when zooming in even further at up to 100x zoom, things don’t come out quite as good as they did during the day, but you can still kind of make out what’s going on. Light noise is once again controlled the best when using the main camera to take a snap of me at night, but the Periscope sensor’s shot once again left me very satisfied. Using the Periscope in portrait mode had me blown away thanks to its DSLR-like quality, but edge detection had my ear blown away when using the main camera at a 2x zoom level. And just like with video, taking photos using the main camera at different aperture stops once again proves how a scene can change when opening up the lens to let more light in, which, as you can see when taking a look at the photo on the left, adds greater depth, more detail, and controls light noise incredibly well.
It’s getting harder and harder to be impressed with smartphone photography these days as all companies are starting to use identical sensors. That said, I’m still very impressed with how Huawei has outdone itself with its latest camera-centric device.
Design & Built:
Well, you can pick the Pura 70 Ultra up in green, brown, or black, with the white variant seemingly remaining a China exclusive. However, all of them use the same design and materials. I have the green color variant, and I really like how the green is more subtle than other green devices I have tested. The shiny glass camera module matches the color of the backplate too, which is also a nice touch. The backplate has a starry patent design, which is made of eco leather. The back has a 2.5D curve all around, which flows into its slightly curved aluminum side rails that match the color of the Huawei logo on the back as well as the plate which sits underneath the camera module. A red side ring is visible when the main camera is popped out, which matches the red line seen within the power button.
It’s these little details that put a smile on my face. Since there’s a retractable camera, this is the thinnest 1-inch camera smartphone I have ever used, coming in at just 8.4 mm. However, it is also one of the heaviest, weighing in at 226 g. The cherry on top is that while it still has an IP68 dust and water certification, it can now be submerged even deeper at 2 m. Just like the back, the front glass also has a 2.5D curve wrapping around, which adds to its symmetrical design. The screen itself is protected by Crystal Armor Kin glass, which is supposedly 100% more drop resistant when compared to the first-gen Kin glass and 300% more scratch resistant when compared to regular phone glass. It has razor-thin bezels wrapping around its display with probably the slimmest chin I have ever seen. At the top center of its screen sits a punch-hole notch which houses an 18 mm, 13-megapixel selfie camera that makes use of an f/2.4 aperture and autofocus. The field of view is extremely wide, but of course, this can be cropped in when setting the selfie mode to 0.8x or even 1x for a 22 or 27 mm focal length. Selfies come out great, but portrait mode only works when set to 1x, and unfortunately, edge detection isn’t perfect.
What is close to perfection, however, is detail. This is certainly one of the cleanest images I have ever achieved from a selfie camera.
What’s up, guys? This is Technic, recording a 4K, 60 FPS selfie video on the brand new Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. Just like last year’s P60 Pro, you can switch from wide to 0.8x all the way up to 1x and all the way back to wide. But unfortunately, just like last year’s P60 Pro, there is no option for bokeh selfie video. Either way, let me know your thoughts on the microphone quality as well as the video quality.
Selfie day video came out looking fantastic, but even with the flash enabled at night, recording selfie video in a dimly lit situation leaves a lot to be desired. Video aside, selfie photos at night come out looking phenomenal, even though night mode only works when set to the 1x crop in. Selfie photos look great at this focal length, but once again, edge detection is rather bad. However, it’s slightly improved when enabling the flash. Other than portrait mode and nighttime video, I’m quite impressed with how much detail the selfie camera packs in.
Display & Specification:
But now it’s time for us to shift our focus to that new display. As mentioned earlier, it’s still a quad-curved screen, but it’s now a larger 6.8-inch LED display with a higher screen resolution that boasts 460 pixels per inch. Since it’s a 10-bit panel, it can display over 1 billion colors and supports HDR10 and Widevine L1 content. It uses the same LTPO technology as before, so it can still adjust its refresh rates between 1 and 120 Hz. It has the same 300 Hz touch sampling rate and makes use of the same 1440 Hz PWM dimming. One of the most noteworthy display improvements this year is that it can now reach a peak brightness of a whopping 2,500 nits.
The global version of the Pura 70 Ultra is running EMUI 14.2, which is loosely skinned over Android 12. Being a Huawei device, there’s no official Google service support. However, if you download GBox directly from Huawei’s App Gallery, you can install Google services and the Play Store with no root required. Thanks to MicroG, it even adds the app to your home screen as a shortcut with no funny badge at the bottom of the shortcut icon. Once you have it installed and have signed into your Google account, you can download and update pretty much any app through the Play Store. Yes, all of your Google apps will work without any issues. It’s actually crazy how this is allowed, but hey, it works extremely well and there is no longer a preview screen once you open that app up enough times.
The software itself feels very much up-to-date with other Android skins around, with things such as a side splash screen, large customizable folders, and even stacked widgets with Google services.
Battery & Charging:
I can safely say that the Pura 70 Ultra is worthy of being a daily driver. Speaking of using this on the daily, the Pura 70 Ultra has the largest battery I’ve seen from Huawei in quite some time, that being a 5,200 mAh battery. I cannot wait to test it out in one of my upcoming battery drain tests, so stay tuned for that one. It also has faster 100 W wired charging, faster 80 W wireless charging, and to top it all off, it has extremely fast 20 W reverse wireless charging, making it the fastest reverse wireless charging smartphone on the planet.
Speaking of speed, unlike the Chinese version, the global Pura 70 Ultra has no 5G connectivity, so you’ll have to settle with 4G+ networks, which is almost double that of regular 4G speeds. That said, both the Chinese and global models have the same in-house made Kirin 90 chipset, which runs on a rather outdated 7 nm process node. It’s an 8-core CPU which is identified as 12 cores in third-party apps due to hyperthreading, but its max core clock speed is only 2.3 GHz, which some would peg as a mid-range performer. While the Pixel 8 Pro is seen as a flagship, the Pura 70 Ultra isn’t really far behind when testing out multiple different benchmark apps. To further solidify its performance, it feels just as snappy as the latest flagship chipset from Qualcomm when using the phone regularly. It might not reach the benchmark scores of other flagships, but when it comes to gaming, it is more than capable.
Genshin Impact was the first game I jumped into, and I was very surprised to see it average 60 FPS on max settings, which is not something you typically see when using a budget chipset. So, Huawei’s new Kirin chip definitely has some tricks up its sleeve. The next game I booted up was Real Racing 3, which has an unlimited frame cap, so I was rather disappointed to see the Pura 70 Ultra cap the game out at 90 FPS. Needless to say, it averaged a solid 90 FPS the entire time playing. Lastly, I hopped into a Call of Duty Mobile multiplayer match and was slightly less surprised to see it also cap the game out at 90 FPS. But just like with Real Racing 3, it held a stable 90 FPS most of the time.
Other Hardware features:
Now, Huawei’s latest flagship unfortunately lacks the latest connectivity options. As a result, it sticks to older Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, and 4G+. However, it supports two SIM cards and has NFC built in. Huawei has unfortunately scrapped expandable storage, so you’ll have to deal with up to 1 TB of onboard storage. However, they have now upgraded their USB 3.1 Type-C port to double up as a display port, and the much-loved IR blaster is still around. The haptics are just as solid as any other flagship out there, and so are the dual stereo speakers. So, let’s go ahead and give them a listen.
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra might not have the absolute best chipset around, but it’s still a champion when it comes to gaming. It might not have 5G, but its 4G+ speeds are still impressive. Other than that, it’s very much one of the best flagship devices I have ever tested, thanks to its massive battery and very fast charging, premium display and build quality, solid selfie camera performance, and extremely powerful back camera setup.
Huawei might lure you in with that innovative camera setup, like they always seem to do, but this time there’s actually very good reason to want to make this your daily driver, and that is because there is now easy access to Google services. Huawei might be branding this device as their way of moving forward, but it’s actually really good to see Huawei return to their roots, giving us all very good reason to fall in love with Huawei’s flagships.
Well that’s for today… See you in the next topic…